Where does the Black Stone of the Kaaba come from?

No one knows for certain. It may well be a remnant of the first stones with which the House of God in Mecca was built. Muslims kiss it out of love for this history, not because the stone itself has any power.

The Black Stone is set in one corner of the Kaaba. Pilgrims walk around the Kaaba and kiss the stone or greet it with their hand. Seen from outside, one might wonder whether a stone is being worshipped here. The hadith above gives a clear answer. The stone is only a stone. It can neither benefit nor harm. It is kissed because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) kissed it.

Where the stone comes from cannot be said with certainty. One likely possibility is this. The verses above speak of the first House founded for mankind, and of Abraham (as) and Ishmael (as), who raised its foundations. The Black Stone could be a remnant of those first buildings. It would then be a piece of history one can touch, a stone from the very beginnings of the House of God.

Islamic tradition also tells that the stone came from heaven and was originally white, and that the sins of mankind turned it black. This is figurative language. One can imagine that a meteorite fell in that region and was charred black as it entered the earth’s atmosphere. At the same time it carries a lesson. Even a pure life grows dark when sin touches it.

Both ideas may belong together. Perhaps stones that had fallen from the sky were used in the first building, and one of them has survived to this day. That remains a conjecture. What is certain is that Muslims do not worship the stone. They love it as a reminder of the history of faith.